Energieversorgung Offenbach AG (EVO) will take over the electricity supply in Offenbach for a further 20 years with retroactive effect from January 1, 2023. After the gas concession had already been awarded to the EVO Group in December 2022, the electricity concession has now also been awarded to EVO, in which Stadtwerke Offenbach Holding GmbH holds a stake.
"With the most recent decision by the city council, the procedure for awarding the municipal electricity concession has now also been completed after more than five years," announced Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke.
In December 2017, the City of Offenbach announced in the Federal Gazette that the concession agreement concluded with EVO would expire on December 31, 2019. Qualified companies were invited to register their interest in concluding a new concession agreement for the use of public transport routes to supply electricity in the city of Offenbach for a period of 20 years within three months. Interest was expressed by four companies.
The legally complex and, compared to the gas concession, economically much more significant electricity concession procedure was assigned by Mayor Schwenke to the honorary city councillor Rolf-Dieter Schmitz and was professionally supervised by the Treasurer's Office. "Mr. Schmitz has justified the trust placed in him in this process in an outstanding manner," said Mayor Schwenke in thanks. Specialist consultants were also involved at an early stage in the design of the process for municipal procurement procedures. On the basis of the Energy Industry Act, the award of the concession is intended to ensure the most secure, affordable, consumer-friendly, efficient, environmentally friendly and greenhouse gas-neutral grid-based supply of electricity to the general public, which is increasingly based on renewable energies.
In November 2018, a procedural letter was sent to the interested companies, which regulated the procedure for selecting the new electricity concession contract partner and specified the aforementioned energy industry criteria and their evaluation from the perspective of the City of Offenbach.
In February 2019, the electricity award procedure was suspended due to preliminary injunction proceedings that had been initiated against the City of Offenbach in the parallel gas concession procedure due to complaints of legal deficiencies in the course of the procedure, in order to await the conclusions of the court proceedings regarding the further procedure for the electricity concession.
The complaints subsequently filed in the electricity proceedings and the preliminary injunction proceedings were rejected almost in their entirety by the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court in July 2021. During the judicial clarification, the city had extended the expired concession for a temporary period in a legally compliant manner in order to secure the supply of electricity until the conclusion of the ongoing award procedure.
In the amended procedural letters sent to three remaining bidders in March 2022, the ruling was taken into account and the bidders were invited to submit indicative bids. In May 2022, only EVO responded to this request and another bidder withdrew from the award procedure.
After reviewing the indicative offer, ambiguities and comments were discussed in a round of negotiations with EVO, which was invited to submit a final offer in October 2022.
EVO CEO Dr. Christoph Meier expressed his satisfaction with the City of Offenbach's decision, as it clearly confirms the EVO Group's performance capabilities. "We have known the network inside out for many years and have clearly demonstrated our expertise and reliability." According to him, the concession agreement approved by the city council will continue to provide a secure basis for the supply of electricity in Offenbach for the next 20 years. The concession fees regulated therein for the granting of rights of use to urban traffic routes included significant income for the municipal budget. These are ultimately dependent on the actual volume of electricity supply.
According to the city, the concession agreement also takes into account the current and increasingly important integration of renewable energy plants as one of the central tasks of the municipal grid operator, which will be of outstanding importance for the decarbonization of the energy supply. Extensive coordination and cooperation between EVO and the City of Offenbach is planned in connection with grid investments and the further development and maintenance of future-proof and modern distribution systems.
"The professional cooperation and continuous strategic coordination between the City of Offenbach and the lawyers and energy industry consultants have made a significant contribution to the successful outcome of both concession procedures. My special thanks go to Oliver Böcher as the responsible department head in the treasury, who has accompanied the award procedure with commitment and competence over the last five years," summarizes City Councillor Rolf-Dieter Schmitz.
EVO is 48.1 percent owned by Stadtwerke Offenbach Holding AG. The majority of the remaining shares are held by MVV Energie AG. EVO supplies around 500,000 people and 34,000 companies in the city and district of Offenbach directly and indirectly with electricity via its grids.